Receivers making big catches for KSU

By Joel JellisonNovember 3, 2013

Sarah Midgorden

Kansas State receiver Tramaine Thompson catches a 28-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Sams, despite the Iowa State defender committing pass interference on the play. Thompson finished with three catches for 71 yards in the Wildcats’ 41-7 victory

K-State almost had its first shutout since beating Kent State 37-0 during the 2011 season. A late Iowa State touchdown with only just 3:24 remaining Saturday spoiled a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in Manhattan against a Big 12 opponent since the Wildcats trounced Missouri in 1999.

Camo Cats
In honor of Fort Riley Day Saturday, K-State wore special helmet decals displaying a camouflage pattern inside the Powercat and middle stripes. It’s the first modification of the K-State helmet since the current helmet design was established for head coach Bill Snyder’s first season in 1989.

Oh so close
K-State almost had its first shutout since beating Kent State 37-0 during the 2011 season. A late Iowa State touchdown with only just 3:24 remaining Saturday spoiled a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in Manhattan against a Big 12 opponent since the Wildcats trounced Missouri in 1999.

Stout defense
The Wildcats held the Cyclones to just 249 total yards of offense — the fewest yards K-State has allowed all season. It was the fewest yards K-State has allowed in a Big 12 game since the 243 yards it gave up at West Virginia last season.

Zimmerman climbing
Ty Zimmerman finished with seven tackles and one interception Saturday, moving the senior into a fourth-place tie in school history with Nigel Malone (2011-12) and Clarence Scott (1968-70) with 12 career interceptions.

Hubert’s hundred
John Hubert rushed 15 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns — including a long of 54 yards — against the Cyclones. The senior now has two 100-yard games this season, including 118 yards against UMass on Sept. 14. Hubert also passed Collin Klein for fifth in K-State history with 2,494 career-rushing yards and moved into eighth in school history with 25 career-rushing touchdowns.

Sellout city
With 52,542 people in attendance Saturday, K-State marked its 11th straight sellout going back to Sept. 15, 2012 against North Texas last season. Saturday’s crowd was the ninth-largest in school history, as K-State is on pace to break the single-season total attendance record and average attendance records. The record for total attendance is 384,654 during the 2002 season.

Willie tackle skit update
K-State athletic director John Currie wrote in his regular letter to fans that the pregame Willie tackle skit has been modified after a student was injured last Saturday and taken to the hospital.
“As the safety of our participants and spectators is always paramount, we have already modified our future skit plans and have reviewed our mascot and cheer practices,” Currie wrote.

Next week
The Wildcats will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech in an 11 a.m. kickoff on ABC. K-State has a two-game winning streak over the Red Raiders — a 55-24 victory last season in Manhattan and a 41-34 victory in Lubbock in 2011.

Born in 1992, you can forgive Jack Cantele for not knowing much about Stan Parrish. The much-maligned coach hadn’t won a game in 27 tries before finally being fired in 1988 and replaced by Bill Snyder.

With the clock winding down in the first half and Kansas State looking to add one more score before halftime, Daniel Sams tossed up a pass hoping somebody would make a play.

Sams was flushed from the pocket, ran to his right and then he chucked the ball down the field. The sailed over Tyler Lockett and an Iowa State defender, bouncing off another defender before Tramaine Thompson stole it away for a 16-yard gain.

The Wildcats went on to score, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime on the way to a 41-7 win over the Cyclones.

Thompson finished with three catches for 71 yards, all of the circus variety, but that’s just the type of day Lockett said it was for the K-State offense.

“It just seemed like everything worked out,” he said.

Nobody can really describe what happened on the play, not the player who threw it or caught it, or the other K-State players who witnessed it from only a few feet away.

Lockett, who caught five passes for 72 yards and a few tough ones himself, said he tried to stretch his defender up the field so Sams could scramble for a first down. Curry Sexton said he saw Sams throw it up, and thought Thompson was going in to knock it away. Next thing he knew, Thompson had the ball.

K-State coach Bill Snyder said the receivers and quarterbacks have been hooking up for some big plays over the last two games.

“You go back and look at the catch that Tramaine made,” he said. “I think all of our receivers did a nice job and have done in the last two weeks of making some very, very special catches.”

In the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats leading 20-0, quarterback Jake Waters threw a quick pass in Thompson’s direction, but the senior seemed to turn just in time to see the ball come down and fall in his hands for a 27-yard gain.

On K-State’s next drive, Thompson was run into by an Iowa State defender while a ball thrown by Sams was lofted in his direction. Thompson hit the ground as the ball landed against his chest and he caught it with one arm.

The senior admitted he didn’t know how he made either play.

“The (passes) were a little short,” Thompson said. “The one I caught but didn’t score on, I didn’t expect it to be there that early. I turned my head around pretty late and caught it on the way down — it was just reaction honestly. The touchdown, he just like smacked me in the face as the ball was coming in. I think I caught it with one hand. I don’t know how I caught it.”

Sexton said Thompson always seemed to make a play when they needed him to.

“Tramaine made a lot of big plays for us,” he said, “attacking the ball and making tough catches, which is huge for us.”

Thompson’s performance followed up a big game from he and Lockett last week against West Virgnia, when Lockett caught three touchdown passes and Thompson added another.

It’s been a welcome change for the Wildcats after losing Thompson and Lockett for the Oklahoma State and Baylor games. Thompson missed both with mononucleosis, while Lockett was injured against the Cowboys and didn’t play vs. Baylor.

Thompson said the offense seems to be running more smoothly now that the Wildcats have all their usual weapons in their offensive arsenal.

“They’ve been running a lot different defenses than they did those two weeks we were out,” he said. “It’s good to see normal things going on that we’re used to.”